Stay With Me
by Beautiful.Strangers.95
Summary: When Mackenna rolled into town to visit her brother, she expected to have a much needed holiday, just catching up on old times and relaxing. What she did not expect was the whirlwind that was about to become her life. "Just stay, stay with me. Don't leave." "You don't even want me to stay, you said so yourself I need to leave." "It's not about what I want, it's what I need. Stay."
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Everyone! So I had an idea and I went with it, hopefully you all enjoy the start of this story! Let me know what you think. If you do read and want more then don't worry, chapter two should be up soon.**

**I don't owe any rights at all to Twilight, they're not mine. Mackenna and Tate however are mine.**

**Hope you all enjoy!**

All was quiet in the town of La-push, except for the roar of an engine flying along down the coastline road. Mackenna Lake had the music blaring through her car, platinum blonde hair flying in the breeze as she drove along the road, on the way to meet her brother.

It had been a couple years since she had seen her baby brother Tate and she was looking forward to it, after finally getting her holidays off work she had been straight in the car to go visit, her brother had moved to the small town around two years ago and since then the two had only spoken on the phone.

He had only really come for a visit but upon meeting the love of his life he had thrown in everything to move to La push so he could be with her, Mackenna hadn't met the infamous Leah yet, but every time she had spoken on the phone to Tate he never failed to mention Leah, her brother was smitten, anyone could tell that just by hearing him talk about her.

That's why it hadn't shocked Mackenna when the two had gotten engaged only a six months after being together. With her brother so busy with wedding planning and his job at the garage and Mackenna constantly under the pump with her own job teaching in New York, the two just never had time to visit each other.

But now her holidays were on, it just made sense to take the time and go visit the only family she had left. So she had jumped in her car and after four hours of driving she was finally in town. A smile graced her face as she took in the view, the beach had always been one of her favorite places, didn't matter what beach, or where.

Honestly looking at the water she couldn't blame her brother for moving here, It really was beautiful. That view and the love of your life, what could be better?

She really hoped this Leah was a nice girl, her brother had only said good things but of course he would if he loved the girl, he would only see the good. Over the years Tate had been with a few questionable girls Mackenna had not gotten along with, some of them were okay. The worst one had been Tahlia.

Mackenna shivered thinking about her, she was so glad her brother had finally realized that woman was a viper, sucking the life right out of him. But he'd never been taken with any of them the way he was with Leah. This was why Mackenna prayed she was a good one, the last thing she needed was to have to pick up the pieces after he got his heart broken again.

Turning the music lower she checked the GPS stuck to her dash, she jumped when the robotic voice of a woman come out of it, telling her to go left. Mackenna rolled her eyes. That damn voice had been driving her nuts and since she didn't know how to turn the bloody thing off she had pumped the music up to drown it out. But now she was here she needed directions to the garage.

After taking a left, then turning right a few times before one last left she finally pulled up at what was unmistakably a garage. That's literally what the sign on the too the front said too, It was a black background with bold silver lettering stuck on the front of the building. THE GARAGE.

Through the open roller doors she could see workers, some bent down looking under the bonnet of a car, some just standing around talking. Tate couldn't be seen until she heard the roar of them all crack up laughing, something must be funny. Mackenna could make out his laugh mixed in there somewhere and her own smile slid over her face before she cracked the door opened and jumped out of the car.

Four sets of eyes flicked over when the door smacked shut, she took a few steps closer and could make out her brother, who was now standing up from looking under the bonnet along with the other man, both of their attention turned to her.

"Surprise!" she grinned when his jaw went slack, mouth hanging open. He still looked the same, only older, dark brown eyes that matched hers, only he had short dark

blonde hair, chopped roughly hanging around his face. He was dressed in blue overalls, the same as the other men around him who were looking back and forward between her and her shocked baby brother.

He recovered quick though.

"Ken?" He gaped before a shocked laugh come from his mouth "Holy shit what are you doing here?!" he practically yelled as he ran over, picking her up in a hug, she laughed as he spun her around.

"I'm on vay-kay!" she laughed "So I thought I'd surprise you an visit"

He set her back on her feet, pulling back to look at her, his hands still settled on her shoulders.

"Mission accomplished" he grinned "Holy shit, I can't believe you're here! What did you do to your hair?" Mackenna rolled her eyes.

"Blondes have more fun" she shrugged, throwing her own questions back "When did you get tattoos?!"

Not knowing how she could have missed them when she first saw him she gaped at the tribal like tattoos peeking out from under his overalls, the dark ink covered one side of his neck completely, and the left side of his arm, what she could see of it. She blinked in shock.

"What these? I've had them about a year now" he laughed "Maybe If you visited more often you'd know that." he teased.

Mackenna poked her tongue out, rolling her eyes again.

"Do we get an introduction or?" they both looked over at the other men in the garage who were all staring at them, surely not knowing what the hell was going on or who Mackenna is. Tate grinned at them.

"Guys this is Kenny, my sister" He introduced.

"It's Mackenna, not Kenny!" she groaned, she had always hated that nickname. It sounded like a bloody boys name! When Tate had started speaking when they were kids he

had deemed her 'Kenny' she guessed it was because it was easier for him to say as a toddler, but he wasn't a toddler anymore.

"Yeah no, its Kenny." Her brother grinned "Anyway Ken, this is Jacob, Jared, Embry and Seth" he introduced, pointing to each individual man as he spoke, Mackenna followed his finger as he pointed to each of them.

"Nice to meet you all" she smiled, looking them over.

_'Jesus they're huge!'_ she thought to herself, it was true. They all would be easily over six foot, bursting with muscles that looked like if they got flexed they might just pop through the caramel skin surrounding them. _'They're even bigger than Tate!'_ she had always thought her brother was big, he was also 6 foot and stocky, he'd always been obsessed with the gym, but these guys just took it to a whole new level.

"You guys are huge." she remarked, blinking. Always telling it like it is.

"You're small" one of the whipped back, letting a grin spread over his face. If she remembered their names right she was pretty sure it was Seth.

"Touche'" she grinned, she couldn't really deny that fact when she only stood at 5 foot 2 without heels, but since she was currently rocking her black stiletto boots she looked a little taller.

They all laughed, taking turns shaking her hand with their own giant ones. Mackenna grinned, looking around the garage.

"So this is where you work, huh?"

"Yeah Jacob owns it, Leah actually got me the job. I met these guys through her." Tate nodded, leaning against one of the cars.

"Ah yes the infamous Leah, I cant wait to meet her." Mackenna grinned, she was excited to finally meet this Leah.

The other men in the garage tried to stifle their laughter, Mackenna looked at them curiously.

"Oh you'll love her she's a whole lot of fun" Jared snickered.

"Yeah she's the best" Jacob chuckled

Tate and Seth glared at them.

"Shut up, Jared. You wouldn't want me talking about Kim, right?" Tate raised his eyebrow, Jared stopped his snickering, narrowing his eyes at Tate.

"You leave Kim out of this."

"Yeah that's what I thought."

Mackenna's eyes flicked between the two of them as they squabbled before they landed on Seth who grinned at her, shaking his head he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Better get used to if you're hanging around, them two will carry on all day" he laughed " but lets forget about them, tell me everything about my future brother in-law. I wanna know it all, embarrassing stories, dirty details, secrets.." he grinned mischievously, Mackenna literally had to crane her neck back as far as it would go just to be able to look him in the eye. A sly smile slid over her face.

"Well there was Christmas, it was about 8 years ago, when he-"

"No! you stop right there!" Tate yelled, wild brown eyes darkened as he jumped straight, as if he were under attack.

"No don't stop" Embry begged, clearly listening.

"-we were at this amusement park right, he was 15, I was 19-"

"Mackenna i'm serious! you say anything else i'll tell them about what you did at your prom.." Mackenna narrowed her eyes as they turned towards her brother who now had a sly smirk plastered over his face.

"You wouldn't"

"Try me" he challenged, raising his eyebrows at her. Mackenna rolled her eyes before looking back up at Seth who still had his arm around her shoulder.

"Another time" she whispered, earning a wink from him before she realized what he said before "Wait did you say brother in-law?" she asked a little louder, glancing between him and her brother.

"Yeah, Leah is my sister." he nodded "I guess that means you an me will be family too, sis" he grinned, squeezing her shoulders. Mackenna grinned back at him, actually she was pretty pleased with that idea, she had a feeling she was going to really like Seth.

_'Good start'_ she thought to herself _'Hopefully his sisters as nice as him'_

"Yes very good we're all family" Embry spoke up, a serious look on his face "But really we just wanna to hear the prom story"

Tate cracked up laughing while Mackenna groaned, shooting him a glare.

"I'll tell ya later man"

"You will not!" Mackenna fired, causing them all to crack up along with Tate.

Mackenna smiled, she hadn't seen Tate look this happy in such a long time, maybe moving to La push really was a good thing for him. Although she missed him terribly living by herself in New York, Tate actually looked the happiest he'd been in, well, years.

'_Maybe I owe this Leah_' she thought, watching her brother laugh, she didn't know if it was the change of scenery, his new friends or Leah that had changed her brother for the better, but she didn't care, she was just happy to see him so.. happy.

"Black, Sam wants you over at his house!" A new voice yelled through the garage, Mackenna turned with the rest of them to see a young woman walk through the doors, she was beautiful. Long dark black hair falling down her back, eyes of the same color. She was tan just like the boys. Dressed very similar to Mackenna in blue jeans and a tank top, only difference was mackenna was wearing a black leather jacket and scarf, because it was freezing.

How that girl was not cold was beyond her. Crazy.

"He needs to talk to you" she kept speaking as she approached, it was only when she walked over to Tate and wrapped her arms around him that she knew this was the girl, it must be Leah.

Jacob gave a sigh, turning to chuck a bundle of keys towards Jared who caught them without even looking.

"Close up for me, I'll meet you back at Sams." Jared nodded towards Jacob but he was already jogging out of the garage and jumping into an old beat up pick up truck, it roared to life, the noise fading as he chugged away.

Mackenna was still staring curiously at Leah who was still wrapped in her brothers arms. The dark haired beauty must have felt the eyes on her because her own flicked over to look at the blonde standing across from her.

"Who the hell are you?" oh snappy, Mackenna blinked, noticing how her arms got tighter around Tate.

"Leah this is my sister, Kenny." Tate spoke before Mackenna had the chance to. Leah looked shocked for a minute, much like her brother had when she walked in, but just like her brother she recovered quickly.

"Oh what? you didn't tell me she was coming!" she gasped, now really taking a good look at Mackenna.

"I didn't know!" he defended himself but laughed at the shocked look on his fiance's face "she didn't tell me, she just showed up!"

"We'll have to have a dinner!" she rushed "I'll have to tell Emily, I'm sure she can whip something up, oh I need to clear out the spear room.." she was rambling to herself as everyone watched, she looked completely taken off guard.

"Babe calm down she can sleep on the couch for tonight an we can clear all the junk outta the spare room tomorrow" he laughed, she blinked up at him.

Meanwhile Mackenna stood silent in the same spot, watching the two of them together. Leah hadn't exactly been what she'd expected, she was beautiful, but really the complete opposite of the girls Tate would normally go for.

Which was probably a good thing.

They were bickering about her sleeping on the couch when Mackenna finally found her voice again.

"I'm cool with the couch, really I don't mind" she kind of had just sprung the visit on them so she couldn't expect them to just have a room ready.

Both of them stopped talking and turned to look at her, she smiled, then looked at Leah.

"I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

"I've heard a lot about you too." she replied, still looking a little frazzled.

"Isn't this great" Seth cheered happily "All the family together!" laughter filled the room once again

That seemed to relax Leah a little and a small smile settled over her lips as she rolled her eyes at her brother. Mackenna grinned as well, walking over she pulled the woman in for a hug, she stiffened at the unexpected gesture before relaxing a little and hugging her back.

"It's really nice to meet you Leah" she whispered so only the woman could hear her "thanks for looking after my baby brother"

"I'll always look after him" Leah whispered back. Mackenna didn't know why, because usually she didn't trust people, but for some reason, maybe it was the way she said it, Mackenna one hundred percent believed that she really would.

"Alright, alright break it up" Tate mumbled, but he had a grin on his face when the two pulled away from the hug, he quickly pulled Leah back into his arms once again, her arms going straight back around him.

"Yeah enough of this, help me close up i'm starving!" Jared moaned, turning around and closing the bonnet back down on the car they had been working on. Tate gave Leah a quick kiss on the head before walking over to help the others pack everything away.

"You just wanna see Kim" Tate shot at him, teasing.

"Bite me, Lake"

Makenna giggled while Leah shook her head, smiling.

"How are you feeling after you're drive?" Leah asked, turning to the blonde "feel up to a dinner with everyone or would you prefer a quite night?"

"No quiet nights around here! She's coming to dinner!" Seth yelled from across the room, shocking Mackenna.

'_How the hell did he hear that!?_' she thought, looking to where he was standing, literally on the other side of the room. He wasn't even looking at them, his back was turned, chucking tools from the bench back into a toolbox.

"I already texted Emily an let her know! She's expecting us all at seven!"

Mackenna blinked and turned her eyes back to Leah who shrugged, a smile on her lips.

"I guess you're coming to dinner then."

**So what did you think? Let me know! Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's a new chapter! Hope you're all enjoying it so far, please, please let me know if you like it and want me to continue! Thanks!**

Once they were all done closing up the garage Mackenna jumped back into her car and followed Leah and Tate along the road towards this Emily's house. Seth was sitting beside her in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio dials. He had insisted on coming in her car 'in case she got lost' he said, she suspected it was actually so he didn't have to be stuck in a car dealing with Tate and Leah being all lovey dovey.

For whatever reason she didn't mind the company.

"So what is it you do when you're not here visiting us?" Seth asked as they took a left turn, he had given up fiddling with the dials and had settled on the radio, the volume was soft floating through the car.

"I teach high school, actually. Mainly English."

"Holy shit you're a teacher?" he gaped "For real?"

Mackenna spared him a glance, a smile pulling at her lips. People often didn't believe she was a teacher, she didn't know why. Maybe it was because she didn't look like your average teacher or something. But really just because she was a teacher didn't mean she had to dress like a grandma.

"For real" she laughed "What about you? what do you do when you're not working at the garage?"

He blinked at her, tilting his head like he was trying to figure out what to tell her. Mackenna gave him another glance, raising an eyebrow.

"It it a secret?" she joked, not expecting the frown that come over his lips. He shook his head quickly as if shaking off thoughts before his normal big smile come back over his lips again. He waved his hand casually.

"Nah no secrets" he replied "Just nothing exciting to tell. Sometimes we go cliff diving, up off the rocks. You ever been cliff diving before Kenny?"

Mackenna rolled her eyes. God damn Tate.

"It's Mackenna" she corrected "and no I don't believe I have. I'm not the biggest fan of heights though so the words cliff and diving don't really appeal to me."

"You'll be fine, Kenny" he laughed when her eyes narrowed at him "I'll take you one day, don't worry I won't let you die, promise. Oh hey we're here, sweet food!" he whooped, sounding absolutely thrilled at the thought of eating. Mackenna grinned shaking her head as she pulled the car to a stop on the grass beside Leah's car. There were a couple of other cars parked, also the pick up truck Jake had left the garage in earlier was parked just around the side of the house.

Seth was out of the car before she even had her seat belt off, jogging up towards the house. Another boy around his size literally came out of no where, knocking into his side as he tried to get to the door first. Seth yelled, grabbing the boy by the arm and pulling him back so he could get in front. Mackenna stared in wonder, _'man these boys are serious about their food.'_

Turning her eyes up she took in the house itself, actually it was more like a cottage really. It was surrounded in lush, bushy greenery. Dark wood contrasting really well with the greens, their were two stories, a couple of windows on either side of the building. The main entrance was a tall glass sliding door on the front side that gave her a sneak peak into what the inside looked like.

It was absolutely gorgeous. Small, cozy, perfect.

A knock on her car window almost made her jump through the room. Her hand against her heart she turned her eyes to look out, Leah looked back at her with an amused smile playing on her lips. Mackenna took a deep breath to calm her nerves before opening the door and jumping out.

"Didn't mean to startle you" Leah apologized, the smile still on her face.

"It's okay, I was off in my own world. This place is beautiful." Leah nodded, her own dark eyes turning to look over the place.

"It is huh, that's why I picked it." Mackenna frowned, turning to look at her. Wasn't this Emily's house?" Leah looked at her like she could read her mind.

"I almost lived here once, but things change right? never know what's going to happen until it does." Mackenna blinked, not sure whether she should ask more questions even though she was curious as hell. She made a mental note to ask about it later. Leah gestured for her to follow her to the house and Mackenna complied, still taking in all the beautiful scenery around her.

It was like she was literally in the middle of no where but she knew she wasn't, hell there was a beach just down the road. God it was just stunning.

A woman appeared in the doorway before she even had the chance to walk through it. Just like Leah she had stunning long black hair that instantly made Mackenna a little jealous, she loved being blonde but she did have some regrets after last summer when she had cut her hair, It now sat a few inches past her shoulders so it wasn't too bad, but damn she missed her long hair.

Mackennas jaw almost dropped when she noticed the scars that ran along her right cheek. Luckily she composed herself before the other two women noticed her reaction. Mackenna gave the woman a smile, she guessed this must be Emily.

"Em this is Mackenna, Kenna this is Emily."

"Mackenna it's so lovely to finally meet you." she greeted warmly, grabbing the blonde in an unexpected hug.

"It's nice to meet you too" Mackenna replied, hugging the woman back.

"Maybe we should invite out guest inside" A deep voice spoke, Mackenna pulled back from the hug, glancing behind Emily as a huge man walked towards them, wrapping an arm around Emilys shoulders and planting a kiss on the side of her head.

"Mackenna this is my husband, Sam Uley." Emily introduced "Sam this is Tates sister, Mackenna." Sam held out a big tanned hand towards Mackenna who took it, loosing her own hand in his. They quickly shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you, Mackenna. Tate has spoken about you often." he gave her a smile "Please come on in" he moved back a few steps, taking his wife with him as they made room for Mackenna and Leah to walk in. Mackenna smiled as she crossed the doorway, the inside of the house was just as beautiful as the outside. It was small, but so homely.

It was rustic, all wooden surfaces and furniture. Wooden shelves all along the walls filled all kinds of bits and pieces. A creamy white table sat in the center of the dining room, the kitchen bench of the same color ran along one side of the room, the dark kitchen top currently covered in all kinds of food.

"You're house is so beautiful" Mackenna breathed in awe "Thank you both for having me over for dinner. I'm so sorry about the late notice." she smiled "I just kind of decided to surprise Tate and Leah."

"Well thank you we do love it" Emily smiled "but don't apologize, we're family right? It's just so good to finally have you here. Plus we have enough food to literally feed an army so it's no trouble at all."

Mackenna smiled at the woman, she was having the same feeling about Emily as she had about Seth the instant she met him. It was just like a calming, reassuring feeling and she just knew already that she was going to like her.

"Can I help you with anything?" Mackenna asked, though looking around at all the prepared food it didn't seem like the woman needed any help at all, it seemed like she had everything under control.

"No, no you're the guest!" Emily grinned "Leah why don't you take her out the back to meet the others? They're all in the yard. I just have to do a couple more things and i'll be out." Leah nodded before hooking her arm through Mackennas and leading her through the house.

"She seems really nice" Mackenna whispered once they were out of the kitchen.

"She is." Leah agreed "Emily takes care of everyone, she's the actual definition of a mother hen" she laughed. Mackenna grinned as she was led through another door, this one taking them straight back outside. The first thing she noticed was a huge, roaring fire in the middle of the yard. Her eyes widened when she noticed all the people milling around. If she had expected a small gathering what she got was the complete opposite.

'_Jesus'_ she walked down the couple of steps leading down from the deck onto the grass, a couple of people turned to look over curiously, noticing her and Leahs arrival. she quickly picked out the ones she had met earlier at the garage but there was a lot of them she had never seen before. Tate was over on the other side of the yard laughing with two boys she hadn't met yet. His eyes lit up when he noticed Leah who quickly pulled her over to the group.

Leah threw her arms around Tate who gave a sweet kiss in return before he turned to his sister. Mackenna was still looking around in wonder at all the people around them Tate chuckled.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, before Mackenna could even reply Seth appeared beside her with a smile of his own. He held out a plastic red cup towards her, she took it gratefully, taking a sip.

"Thanks, Seth" she took a sip "holy shit" she coughed when the whiskey hit her throat, she had not been expecting that "this is straight" she croaked out. Seth cracked up laughing but grabbed a bottle of coke, pouring some into her cup.

"My bad, I'm used to it." he laughed.

"Yeah Kennys always been a light weight" Tate laughed, ignoring the look his sister was giving him "she's never been a big drinker. Especially not since-"

"Shut up Tate" she snapped, quickly hiding her red cheeks behind her cup as she took a sip. 'Jesus, does he always have to bring up the prom story' she grimaced when the drink still burnt a little going down, but at least it was a hell of a lot better than before. Tate laughed into his cup as he took a sip of his own drink.

"Don't worry i'm not a big drinker either" Leah smiled, trying to make her feel better "Either is Kim or Emily, It's mostly the boys that drink."

"Hey I don't" one of the boys she hadn't met yet commented "I'm just here for the food." as if on cue his stomach let out an almighty growl causing everyone around to laugh.

"Kenny this is Quil" Tate introduced her "Quil this is my sister, Kenny."

Mackenna gave Quil a smile, shaking his hand as he beamed his own huge smile back at her.

"Nice to finally meet you Kenny. How you liking it in La push so far?"

"Yeah you too." Mackenna grinned "I feel like I haven't stopped meeting people since I got here" she laughed, looking around "It's so peaceful though, I can see why Tate made the move. This place is just beautiful."

"Yeah it is good, we love our little town" Quil nodded in agreement, smile still on his face.

"Hell yeah we do!" Embry popped out of no where, red cup in one hand, a half eaten hot dog in the other. Quils eyes widened.

"Where the hell did you get that?' he whispered horrified, looking like was ready to take the food right out of his hand. Embry must have had that exact thought and quickly shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

"Emily gave it too me" he replied through a mouth full, Mackenna didn't even know how the hell she or anyone else managed to make out what he said. Quil moved faster than she knew possible running towards the house, no doubt to find his own food.

"Hey Kenny" Mackenna turned to look behind her at whoever spoke, she smiled when she noticed Jared walking over. A woman under his arm coming along with him. "This is Kim" he introduced "Kim this Kenny."

Mackenna gave the girl a smile, she looked about the same height as herself. Her hair a dark chocolate brown falling around her shoulders, framing a pair of bright, piercing hazel eyes.

"It's about time!" she grinned, grabbing her in a hug. Mackenna blinked, shocked but hugged her back "I've been waiting to meet you for years!"

"Well, sorry to keep you waiting!" Mackenna laughed when she come back to her senses.

"That's okay! we'll just have to make up for lost time, we'll have to out for lunch one day! Oh we should go shopping sometime!" Kim grinned.

Mackenna blinked again, taking a quick sip of her drink. _'Holy crap this girl has energy for days'_

"Yeah sure that sounds good"

"How long are you in town for?"

"Hey yeah" Tate spoke up "How long are you here for? you didn't say"

"I'm not really sure yet. I got some time of work so probably a few weeks, I didn't really plan this I just kind of decided to go with the flow really" she laughed "you guys don't mind if I hang around for few weeks right? You probably be glad to see me gone after"

"Of course we don't mind" Leah gave a smile "once we get the spare room cleaned out you can stay as long as you like."

"Yeah Ken i'm cool with it, never know when you'll get the time of again so you may as well stay while you can."

Mackenna felt a little guilty at her brothers words. She knew she shouldn't, Tate was the one who moved after all, and he could always come visit her too, but she did still feel a little bad that this was the first time visiting for the first time in two and a half years.

"I'll get some of the guys to help me clean the spare room out tomorrow"

"Jared can help" Kim offered with a grin, smacking him softly on the chest when he groaned.

"I'll help too" Seth piped up.

"I can help too If you guys need another set of hands"

"Yeah cool, thanks Brady."

Mackenna looked over at the other boy standing around that she hadn't met yet, giving him a smile. He grinned back.

"I'm Brady by the way." he introduced himself.

"Oh yeah sorry, Brady this is Mackenna." Mackenna rolled her eyes at her brother before shaking Bradys hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Brady. Thanks for the offer" she smiled "Thank you all for offering"

"Well I mean i'd offer too" Embry spoke up from the table where he'd moved to, pouring himself another drink "But really how many wo- err guys does it take to clear out a room, right?"

Mackenna laughed, not really noticing his almost slip up, nor the looks the others around her had stopped to give him. She sat her plastic cup down beside his on the table, he shot her a smile before pouring her one too.

"It's fine, i'm sure between us all we can handle it."

"Oh Mackenna I want you to meet my mum and dad" Leah grabbed her arm, she only had a second to grab her drink off the table before Leah had her arm around hers again pulling her over to an older couple who were seated together on a outdoor lounge on the other side of the yard.

"Mum, Dad, this is Tate's sister, Mackenna" both of them looked up as she spoke "Mackenna this is my mum, Sue and my dad Harry"

Mackenna smiled, shaking the older mans hand before once again being grabbed in her what felt like the twentieth hug that day.

"It's so good to meet you, Mackenna" Sue smiled as she pulled back from the hug. She looked exactly the same as her daughter only an older version. In other words she was stunning, just like all the other women she had met today.

"Yes we've heard a lot about you" Harry gave her a small smile "It's nice that you could finally come down and visit, we've all been looking forward to meeting you"

"Are you here long?" Sue asked, taking a seat back down next to her husband, leaning against him.

"Well i'm hoping it'll be a few weeks, but i'm not really sure yet."

"I was thinking we could take her for lunch tomorrow, have a girls day if you want to come?" Leah asked, shooting her dad a grin "sorry dad"

"Sure honey that sounds good" Sue agreed before her eyes turned to look behind them "Oh looks like Emilys bringing out the food, I should go help. You should try and get some before the boys get to it or you might miss out" she laughed before walking over to help Emily set the food on the table. Her voice could be heard across the yard as she yelled at the boys to wait.

"She's not kidding, we should get in there before it's gone" Leah laughed.

"Any chance I could use the bathroom first?" she had been busting to go since they got here.

"Yeah sure just go in through the door we come out, turn left, straight down the hall an it's second door on the right"

"Thanks"

Mackenna smiled gratefully before walking back in through the back door, sitting her glass down on a table as she passed she quickly made her way down to the bathroom, to relieve herself. Once she was done she quickly washed her hands and splashed some water over her flushed face before walking back out and down the hall. Picking her drink up from where she left it she turned too quickly and bumped straight into someone, the whiskey from her cup spilling out all over the person she bumped into.

"Oh my gosh i'm so sorry!" she gasped, her eyes flicking up to see the poor soul she'd just thrown her drink all over.

Well, she hadn't met this one.

His dark brown, almost black eyes stared back into hers. Her jaw hung slack as she stared, she must have looked ridiculous frozen with her mouth hanging open. He was absolutely gorgeous. His short dark hair hung around his face, and jesus he didn't have a shirt on. Rippling muscles covered his entire body, a few tattoos painted over some of those muscles.

"I- sorry" she breathed, still awestruck.

He frowned, staring down at her. He was tall, really tall. Just like all the others she had met today. Mackenna blinked helplessly up at him while he continued to frown down at her, like he was trying to work her out. His eyes flashed with something, she didn't know what is was but damn if it didn't make her knees tremble.

"Who are you?" Holy crap, his voice was like dark velvet chocolate. It was rough and it didn't help her compose herself. Not at all.

"I-I uh, I'm Ma-Mackenna" she cleared her throat, her own frown taking over her face _'What the hell is wrong with me'_ her brain was screaming, but it felt like it was melting at the same time. He was still staring at her, It felt like he was looking into her soul or something.

"Lake's sister" he stated before his frown deepened "Of course you are. Jesus Christ. Why the fuck did it have to be Lake's sister?" he growled, now his eyes were flashing with what looked a lot like anger.

_'Did he just growl at me?'_ Mackenna thought, unable to stop the shivers that rippled through her body. Who is this man? _'He must be a friend of_ _Tates'_ she thought to herself.

"Yeah Tate's sister" she replied confused, what did he mean by that? would it have been better if someone else had spilled their drink on him? "i'm really sorry about the drink, I didn't mean it. I'll find you something to clean it with" she turned sitting her cup back on the table but he was already walking past her.

"Don't worry about it" he growled again, walking down the hall and out of her sight. Mackenna stood stuck in the same spot, her confused eyes watching the space where he had just walked off. Shaking her head and bringing herself back to reality she remembered where she was and started walking back towards the door to the backyard she tried to apologize, it wasn't her fault he didn't accept her apology.

So why the hell was her whole body screaming at her to run after him?


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter. Enjoy!  
**

It was pretty calm for the rest of the night, everyone sitting around the fire, eating and laughing together. When Mackenna had come here she didn't know what she was going to be greeted with, but this warm welcome from people she had never even met had really exceeded her expectations. Seth and Embry were her favorites so far, the two of them had just not stopped cracking joked since she got here.

It was around Eleven thirty when they finally packed up, everyone slowly dropping off to go their own ways. Mackenna had given Emily one last hug, thanking her endlessly for the dinner and company before once again getting back into her car and following her brother and Leah back to their house. Once they arrived she pretty much crashed on the couch immediately, exhausted from the drive and the nights events.

xxx

The house was quiet when she woke the next morning except for her ragged breathing, her hand against her heart as she tried to calm down. It was him, the man she had spilled her drink all over last night. But why the hell was she dreaming about him? Shaking her head she tried to recall the dream, but it was already fading off into the back of her mind, but she knew it was about him.

After the incident last night she hadn't seen him again, she had looked for him in the crowd, she wasn't really trying to find him but she couldn't stop her eyes from scanning the yard to see if he was there. After failing to find him she had started to think maybe she was just seeing things, perhaps she had made the whole thing up in her head.

But the whiskey stains on the bottom of her jeans had said otherwise.

"Well good morning!" her brother had always been a morning person, he grinned down at her, holding out a cup of coffee. Mackenna took it gratefully, sipping on the hot bliss.

"Morning'" she smiled "Thanks for the coffee"

"No problem, so I gotta go to the garage for a couple hours, should be back around two this afternoon an we can start clearing out the spare room, Leah had to go out for an hour or so as well but she said to tell you to be ready by twelve she's taking you to lunch." Mackenna nodded, moving out from under the blankets she hopped up off the couch, stretching.

"Okay cool, did she say where we're going?" she asked, taking a sip.

"Nope" he grinned, throwing his coat on before grabbing his keys "Just said to be ready. Towels are in the hall behind the sliding door, uh more coffee in the pot if you want"

"Thanks, actually a shower sounds amazing right now"

"Yeah feel free, help yourself to whatever. I'll be back" he grinned again before pulling her in for a quick hug "It's good to finally see you again, Kenny" before she could even respond he was already out the door off to work. Mackenna grinned, watching the door shut behind him.

"It's good to see you too, Tate" she laughed to herself. Her coffee was gone in seconds and seeing the time was already ten thirty she decided on a shower before helping herself to another cup, so she found the towels in the linen cupboard and went looking for the bathroom.

Once her shower was over and she was fully dressed in a pair of black denim jeans and a white t-shirt, along with some lilac heeled ankle boots, she made her way back downstairs and turned the coffee pot back on to heat up, she had just taken her first mouthful when Leah walked in through the door.

Mackenna blinked, she looked a sight different from yesterday. Dressed in some jean cutoffs that looked like they had seen much better days and an over sized black top that she was swimming in.

"Busy morning?" Mackenna raised an eyebrow, taking another sip of her coffee. Leah blinked, looking down at her attire before looking back up at the blonde leaning against the kitchen sink.

"I was in a rush when I woke up" she laughed nervously "Didn't really have time to plan the outfit."

"Hey no judgement here, so where are we going for lunch?"

"I was thinking this little cafe, near the edge of town. You don't mind if I have a shower quickly, right?"

"Of course not, go ahead."

"Thanks, I wont be long" Leah grinned before jogging up the steps. Mackenna took the chance to quickly apply a little make-up, not much just some mascara and a little lip gloss. By the time Leah come back downstairs she was on her third cup of coffee.

"You ready to go?"

"Yep, lets do it. I'm actually starving."

It was about a fifteen minute drive to the cafe, 'Flaming Janes' it was called. Both girls were practically drooling when they got out of the car, smelling the delicious scents coming from the cafe. Once inside they quickly made their orders, only a minute after that their drinks arrived.

"I invited Emily and Mum but they couldn't make it. Sam needed Em for something and dad wasn't feeling to well so mum didn't want to leave him alone. I hope you're not too dissapointed it's only me" Leah joked

"Of course not!" Mackenna laughed "I'm sure we can all have lunch another time before I go. Hey can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure" Leah smiled at her, Mackenna smiled back but she was a little nervous about asking. She hoped the questions weren't too personal. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her brothers fiance when she had only just met her.

"Yesterday you said something about you picked Emily and Sam's hosue? That you almost lived there once?" she didn't even know why she was so curious, maybe it was because she could sense a story there, and she was just, well, curious really. But she almost wished she didn't ask when she saw the sad smile flash over Leahs face.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have-"

"No-no it's fine!" Leah smiled "It's just a long story" she took a sip of the iced tea she ordered "When we were younger, Sam and I were kind of a thing."

Mackenna blinked, not expecting that.

"We had our whole lives planned out." she laughed "The house we would live in, how many kids, where we would get married. Everything. I saw the house and I fell in love with it, so he brought it, for us." her eyes had gone hazy now, Mackenna could tell she wasn't here anymore, she was back there, in her memories.

"Just before I graduated high school, he sort of.. went off the rails a bit. He had some stuff going on in his life and he pushed me away, so we started falling apart. I was heartbroken so Emily come to visit me, I thought having some girl time might help. Get my mind off it, ya know?"

"So you knew Emily before her and Sam got together?"

"Yeah, she's my cousin." Mackenna stared at her, shocked. Her mind was running wild with all this information.

"So your cousin is engaged to your ex boyfriend?" she asked, making sure she heard that right. Leah gave her another soft smile, before nodding her head in confirmation,

Mackenna just continued to stare, stunned, waiting for her to continue.

"When she come down to see me she ran into Sam at a party and they fell in love. I mean, in Emily's defense she did try to fight it, but, she couldn't stop it. They're just meant to be. I see that now."

"So you're okay with them?" Mackenna asked "being together?" she couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like. Her heart was squeezing uncomfortably in sympathy for the girl in front of her, but Leah looked fine. Like it was just a story she'd told a million times and now she was used to it.

"It took a long time." Leah shrugged "I absolutely hated them for years. I practically made their lives hell, not intentionally I just couldn't stand to be around them, seeing them so happy and because I couldn't exactly avoid them I turned into a bitter bitch that no one wanted to be around. I'm sure someone would have warned you about that" she laughed. Mackenna nodded, briefly remembering the comments from Jacob and Jared yesterday at the garage.

"Two barbecue bacon burgers with fries?"

Mackenna jumped at the sound of the waiter interrupting them, having been captivated in the story she had forgotten where they were. He set both plates down in front of the women before asking if he could get them anything else. They both politely declined, he gave them a wide smile before leaving them to their food. It was silent for a minute as they both dug in.

"So how did you get past it? What made you forgive them?" Mackenna asked after a she swallowed her mouthful of burger.

"Tate." Leah smiled, her eyes no longer hazy, the were sparkling under the lights in the cafe "I met Tate and everything changed, I finally found the part of me that was missing and everything just seemed so clear. I realized you can't help who you fall in love with, so why should I punish them for loving each other?"

"Wow.." Mackenna breathed, she certainly hadn't expected that. To find out the girl had been through so much, and that she'd had found herself again thanks to her brother, it was like some dreamy love story.

"I'm glad he met you too, I don't think i've ever seen him so happy." That made Leahs smile grow even wider and Mackenna had a fleeting thought that even though she didn't really know this woman, it seemed like this was the happiest she had ever been as well.

"I don't know about that, he seemed pretty happy when you showed up to surprise him" Mackenna laughed, at first she was nervous and excited about this visit, but now all she could think was how glad she was that she came, how right it felt to be here, in this town. She felt like she belonged.

Shaking off that strange feeling she took another bite of her burger, and the two of them enjoyed the rest of their lunch together, finally getting to know their soon to be sister in law.

xxx

It was almost three when they finally arrived back to the house, they had taken some time after lunch to browse through a couple of stores that were on the way back, Mackenna had come back with a new winter coat and some jeans while Leah had splurged on a whole new kitchen set and some shoes.

They both walked through the door, still giggling about the checkout guy that had tried so hard to get Mackennas number. Leah had let her suffer for a minute, knowing she was struggling not wanting to be rude but really wanting to say no, before she come over and saved her. Telling him a complete lie about Mackenna's crazy 'Boyfriend' who would not appreciate him trying to get her number.

He had quickly backed off and the two of them bailed as quick as they could, Leah cackling all the way to the car while Mackenna just shook her head, bright red cheeks pulled up into her own smile.

"What's so funny?" Both of them stopped, looking up to see Seth standing there with a whole chest of drawers in his arms, Mackennas eyes went wide as he sat it down in the lounge room.

"Some guy tryna get Kenny's number, you should have seen her face" Mackenna rolled her eyes causing Leah to crack up laughing once again. She was not impressed that her brothers fiance had been sucked into calling her Kenny now. Her bloody name was Mackenna!

"Oooooh Kenny's got a boyfriend!" another voice boomed as Jared walked down the stairs, a grin spread over his face "So did you give him your number?"

"No I-"

A loud crack sounded upstairs causing Mackenna to jump, her eyes flashing towards the staircase. 'What the hell was that?'

"Dammit Paul!" Tates voice yelled out "you're paying for that!"

"Lahote you better not be breaking my shit!" Leah growled, running up the stairs. Mackenna debated going up there but decided not to, instead she walked over to the fridge, grabbing herself a beer.

"You guys want one?" she asked, hearing two yeses she grabbed another two from the fridge and handed them to Seth and Jared "Thanks again for helping with this, I appreciate it."

"It's cool, I got nothing better to do" Seth grinned

"I do" Jared mumbled into his beer but he had that grin still on his face. Mackenna poked her tongue out before taking the cap off her own bottle and tipping it back, taking a drink.

"So is there much more stuff to move?" she asked, looking around the room at all the things that weren't there before they left. This must be all the stuff they had taken from the spare room.

"Naw not really" Seth looked around "Most of it's already out just gotta load it into the truck an take it to storage"

Footsteps on the stairs made the three of them turn to look at the people coming down. Mackennas breath caught in her throat when she saw him, the same man from last night. So she hadn't imagined him.

His dark eyes flicked over her only for a second before he looked away, as if he were dismissing her. Gosh, he must still be angry about the drink. But she said sorry, what more could she do?

"Rooms all ready" Tate grinned, Mackennas eyes flicked to him. she hadn't realized she'd been staring until Tate spoke. 'God I hope no one noticed' she thought.

"It's not ready we still need to change the sheets and fix the bed up" Leah shook her head "but all the shit's gone at least, there's room to take your stuff up there if you want"

"Hey that's my beer!" Tate scowled, staring at the bottle in her hand. Mackenna grinned and took a sip. God normally she didn't even drink, or the most she would have would be a glass of wine, but she'd had a good day and felt like one.

"And now it's mine"

"Clean out your room, fix everything an you repay me by drinkin' my beer" he scoffed, walking over to the fridge to grab one for himself, Mackenna laughed softly while he popped the cap off and took a long drink. He turned to look behind him.

"Paul you want one?" he asked, holding his beer bottle up to show him. Paul shook his head, standing against the wall with his arms crossed. A frown was covering his face and he looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Suit yourself" Tate shrugged as he took another drink.

Mackenna couldn't help but stare at him again 'So his name is Paul' she thought, looking him over 'Suits him' she bit her lip 'God he's so good looking' her eyes raked up and down his body. He wasn't wearing a shirt again, Mackenna wondered if he owned one.

"Can we just get this over with? I have shit to do" Mackenna shivered when she heard his voice again, it was rough and deep. His eyes met hers once more and she quickly looked away, cheeks red at being caught. She tried to cover it by taking another sip of beer.

"You can go, i'm sure we can handle this part without you" Tate offered, already finished his beer he pulled another from the fridge, chucking one to the other boys who had also already finished.

"No he can't" Jared scowled "If i'm stuck here moving shit he can help. Besides it's his truck, how are we going to move it all?"

"Fine, lets just get this done, sooner it's finished the sooner you can all get out of my house" Tate sighed, sitting his beer down he started picking things up, taking them out to the truck parked outside.

It was like that for the next twenty minutes, all of them helping to take things out and pack them onto the truck. Mackenna grabbed an old bedside table, over estimating her strength she picked it up, struggling but determined to help she took slow steps walking out to the truck. It was only when she got there she realized the was no way she was going to be able to lift it in.

Still giving it a go she tried to lift it up, panicking when she almost fell back. Actually she would have if a pair of hot arms didn't come around from behind her, taking the weight of the table and lifting it into the tray of the truck.

"Don't try and move the heavy stuff" Mackenna shivered when she heard his gruff voice whisper in her ear "You'll hurt yourself" Mackenna sucked in a sharp breath, turning her head slightly she could just make out his golden skin, her head only went up to his shoulder.

"I was just trying to help" she answered softly, still very aware that his body was pressed against hers, she was wedged between him and his truck, her hands resting gently against the back of the tray.

"Just be careful" he sighed, pushing the table into the tray properly to make room for other things. Mackenna swallowed the lump in her throat, she couldn't understand why he was having such an effect on her. Nor did she understand the cold feeling that washed through her when he moved away, she could have sworn his hand grazed across her neck as he moved past.

"Wait um-" he stopped, still facing the other way he turned his head slightly to look back "I just wanted to say thank you, for helping today, I'm sure you had better things to do, places to be, it was nice of you to come and help" she rambled, not really sure what words were coming out. Pushing her hair behind her ear she stared at the side of his face.

"Especially after I threw my drink all over you, sorry about that.. again." Mackenna wasn't sure but she swore she saw the corner of his lip pull up a little, he looked like he was about to say something when Jared walked out with Tate, both of them carrying either side of an old couch. Pauls shoulders stiffened when they come out and he didn't reply, walking back inside.

Mackenna blew out a ragged breath, she felt like she'd been holding it in for hours. Once the boys chucked the couch on the truck Tate turned to her, giving her a funny look.

"What's wrong with you?"

_'I have no fucking idea'_ she thought to herself, but just shook her head at him and walked back into the house in desperate search of her beer. Hoping she would and wouldn't run into Paul again.

Although she did see him again, she didn't get the chance to speak to him again after their conversation earlier. Once all the stuff had been loaded onto the tray all the boys has gone over to the storage unit to drop it all off, leaving the girls at the house. Leah had helped her bring all her things up into the spare room, she unpacked all the clothes while Leah put new bed covers and sheets on for her.

They were having a cup of tea thinking about what to make for dinner when Tate got back home, Mackenna couldn't help but feel disappointment run through her when she realized he was by himself. But why was she dissapointed? she didn't even know this man that she was suddenly so fascinated with, so she couldn't understand why it was bothering her.

Maybe it was just lust. After all, she hadn't been with a man for almost a year and a half. With a career like hers she really didn't have to time to do the whole dating thing, hell she didn't even have time to go out and meet someone. Once she had tried a dating app but after being slammed by creeps who clearly didn't want anything more than a one night deal she had quickly deleted her account, deciding never to do that again.

Yeah that must be what it was. It was just lust.

Right?

**Thanks for reading!**


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